How much of a role Jonny would play in that future, she wasn’t entirely sure.
Before, he had made it clear that he wasn’t exactly interested in forever.
But she was looking forward to finding out if there just might be a chance now.
Jonny’s heart was racing after the showdown with Sharpe, Ada’s family, and the Carters.
He couldn’t get out of his mind the look of hatred her father had shot at them as they had exited the church, the rest of them staring after him, nor, truly, the panic that had filled his heart when he had walked through those doors and seen Ada standing there, as beautiful as ever, ready to marry a man who might provide her safety, but would never treat her the way she should be treated.
As the most precious woman in the entire world.
He had never felt pride like he did now, looking at Ada,still clutching his arm, although she was silent, her wide-eyed face the only sign of the incredulity she felt.
“Ada, that was something else entirely,” Emmaline was saying as the eight of them walked through the Manchester street, which was bustling with merchants and passersby who didn’t spare them much of a glance. “You were incredible.”
“Thank you,” Ada said in a low voice, finally speaking, although she hadn’t looked up at Jonny. “But Sharpe?—”
“Don’t worry about him,” Jonny cut in. “We’ll take care of him.”
“And just who,” Rhys said in clipped words, “do you considerwe?”
Jonny looked around them. While no one seemed particularly interested in them or anything they had to say, he’d rather not have any interested ears nearby.
“Me and Will,” he said. Ada sucked in an audible breath at the response. “But I’ll tell you the rest when we are alone.”
“Our house is closest,” Emmaline said, and soon enough, the eight of them found themselves around Rhys and Emmaline’s kitchen table. It was cramped, but with a few chairs borrowed from the sitting area, they all managed to fit.
“Now,” Rhys said, pointing a finger at Jonny. “Speak.”
When Jonny hesitated, Tommy gave him an encouraging nod.
“It’s better this way, Jon,” Tommy said. “Trust me.”
Jonny nodded, realizing that the only way to get through this was with the men he played beside on the field, who had shown up for him today even when he had given them no reason to trust him.
“Very well,” he said, before he launched into the story. He told them all of it. His background. His father’s history with Blackwood and Sharpe. Trying to leave the underworld and make a clean path forward for himself. How he had left Willbehind, thinking it was Will’s choice. He told them about talking to Will and learning the truth of what had happened, of what Will had sacrificed for him. He told them about stealing the ledger, about giving it back to Sharpe, but realizing that wasn’t the end — that Sharpe wanted more from him. That he wanted him either back in the organization or dead, for they never left loose ends behind — exactly what Jonny was.
When he finished, Ada filled in the gaps about her own family. She told them about her father’s business interests, both legitimate and otherwise, what he and the Carters wanted from one another. How they had felt marriage would strengthen the bond between the businesses and that, as far as she knew, they planned to cut off Sharpe and go legitimate. She finished by telling them that Sharpe now wanted the businesses for himself, which was why he had been at the church today and wanted her.
The only thing they left out was the connection between the two of them.
“There is one thing I don’t understand,” Colin said. “Why did you go along with the plan to marry David Carter?”
Perhaps there was one other thing they had omitted. Ada lifted her chin and stared Colin in the eye.
“Because the Carters discovered a truth that would destroy me, my family, and, quite possibly, all of you.” She paused, and tension filled the air. “I was the one who shot Blackwood.”
While it was no surprise to the ladies or to Jonny, the other three men gaped at her in disbelief.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Tommy said, wide-eyed, while Rhys stared at her, assessing, and Colin kept looking from his wife and back to Ada.
“But how?” Tommy said.
“I’m an excellent shot,” she said, before grimacing. “Myfather made sure of it when we were threatened by Blackwood when I was young.”
“Well,” Rhys said, the first to recover, likely because he wasn’t as surprised as the rest of them. He had a way of reading people that was beyond what most others were capable of, “I suppose we have you to thank for our lives, then. If you hadn’t shot him and Garrick that night, we likely wouldn’t all still be here, sitting around this table.”
“And we’d all like to stay here,” Jonny said grimly. “Which is why we need to finish this once and for all. Will and I have a plan. If you’re willing, we could use your help.”
